Jane Eyre

This article is about the Victorian novel. For other uses, see Jane Eyre (disambiguation).

Jane Eyre

Title page of the first edition of Jane Eyre
Author	Charlotte Brontë
Language	English
Genre	Gothic Horror, Social Criticism, Bildungsroman
Publisher	Smith Elder and Co., Cornhill
Publication date	16 October 1847
Publication place	England
Media type	Print

Jane Eyre (Template:Pron-en) is a famous and influential novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre. An Autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell".

(Harper & Brothers of New York came out with the American edition in 1848.)

Plot introduction

Jane Eyre is a first-person narrative of the title character, a small, plain-faced, intelligent and honest English orphan. The novel goes through five distinct stages: Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is abused by her aunt and cousins; her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations; her time as the governess of Thornfield Manor, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester; her time with the Rivers family at Marsh's End (or Moor House) and Morton, where her cold clergyman-cousin St John Rivers proposes to her; and her reunion with and marriage to her beloved Rochester at his house of Ferndean. Partly autobiographical, the novel abounds with social criticism and sinister gothic elements.

Jane Eyre is divided into 38 chapters; most editions are at least 400 pages long (although the preface and introduction on certain copies are liable to take up another 100). The original was published in three volumes, comprising chapters 1 to 15, 16 to 26, and 27 to 38.

Brontë dedicated the novel's second edition to William Makepeace Thackeray.

Plot summary

There was no possibility of taking a Single walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question.

— Excerpt from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, beginning of chapter 1

Chapters 1-4: Jane's childhood at Gateshead

Young Jane argues with her guardian Mrs. Reed of Gateshead. Illustration by F. H. Townsend.

At Gateshead Hall, a ten-year-old orphan named Jane Eyre lives with her uncle's family. The uncle, surnamed Reed, dies shortly after adopting Jane. His wife, Mrs. Sarah Reed, had opposed her husband's taking Jane in and dislikes her intensely. Her three children (John, Eliza and Georgiana) are allowed to abuse the girl. Young Jane blames her own plain looks and quiet yet passionate character. As the novel begins, young John Reed bullies Jane, who retaliates with unwonted violence. When Jane is blamed for the ensuing fight, Mrs. Reed has two servants lock her up for hours in the "Red Room," where Mr. Reed had died. As night falls, Jane sees a light and panics, thinking that it is her uncle's ghost. Her screams rouse the house. Mrs. Reed, however, commands that she be kept in that room. Jane has a fit and passes out. An apothecary, Mr. Lloyd, comes to Gateshead Hall to examine her. After talking to her, he suggests -out of compassion for her - that perhaps Jane should go away to school.

Chapters 5-10: Jane's education at Lowood School

Mrs. Reed decides to send Jane to Lowood Institution, a charity school. In her bitterness, she demands that the whole school be warned of her niece's deceitfulness. Before Jane departs, she shocks Mrs. Reed by telling her bluntly how she hates the whole family.

Jane initially finds life at Lowood grim. It is run by a self-righteous, hypocritical clergyman named Brocklehurst, and the staff in general are sour and abusive. Mr. Brocklehurst, visiting the school for an inspection, recognizes Jane after she accidentally breaks her slate. He denounces her as a liar, and makes her stand on a tall stool before the entire assembly. Her new friend, Helen Burns - sensitive, intelligent, and truly Christian - comforts her. Later that day, Miss Temple, the most caring teacher at the school, allows Jane to speak in her own defense. After she does so, Miss Temple writes to Mr. Lloyd. His reply agrees with Jane's, and she is publicly cleared of Mr. Brocklehurst's accusation.

Although his own family leads a luxurious life, Mr. Brocklehurst preaches a doctrine of poverty to the school - and the eighty pupils are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals and thin clothing. The majority become ill when a typhus epidemic strikes Lowood. Although Jane remains healthy, she misses Helen, who is one of the sick. However, Helen is ill not with typhus but with tuberculosis (consumption). Jane finds her at last; while she cannot emulate her friend's gentle behavior and complete trust in God, she is moved by it. As the typhus epidemic rages, Helen dies in Jane's arms.

After this, Mr. Brocklehurst's neglect and dishonesty are laid bare. Several rich, kind people donate money to erect a new building in a more healthful location. Improvements in diet, clothing, and teaching are introduced as well. Although Mr. Brocklehurst cannot be removed from his post because of his wealth and family connections, he must share his duties as treasurer and inspector with people who are more creditable. From this time, conditions at the school improve dramatically.

Chapters 11-26: Jane's time as governess at Thornfield Manor

The narrative resumes eight years later. Jane has been a teacher at Lowood for two years, but she longs for a brighter future. She advertises as a governess and is hired by Mrs. Alice Fairfax, housekeeper of Thornfield Manor, to teach a little French girl named Adèle Varens. Jane is happy with her new life and with her capricious, willful pupil.

A few months after her arrival at Thornfield, Jane goes for a walk and finds a horseman who has sprained his ankle. She helps him back on his horse; he asks where she lives without revealing his own identity. On her return to Thornfield, Jane discovers that the injured horseman is her employer, Mr. Edward Rochester. Mr. Rochester is a moody, self-willed, intriguing man nearly twenty years older than she. Adèle is his ward from a previous romantic relationship with a French "opera dancer"; Mr. Rochester took her in after her mother died.

• 
  Jane saves Mr Rochester from a fire.
• 
  Miss Blanche Ingram looking in a book.
• 
  Mr Rochester disguised as a Gypsy woman.
• 
  Bertha Mason rips Jane's wedding veil.

Mr Rochester seems quite taken with Jane. He repeatedly summons her to his presence and talks with her. Jane enjoys his company. However, strange things begin to happen: a strange laugh in the halls, a near-fatal fire from which she has to save Mr. Rochester, and an attack upon Mr. Richard Mason, a guest at the manor.

One night Jane has a presentiment and the next day receives word that Mrs. Reed, upon hearing of her son John's apparent suicide after leading a dissolute life, has suffered a stroke and is asking for her. Jane returns to Gateshead and remains there for over a month while her aunt lies dying in bed. Mrs. Reed bitterly rejects Jane's efforts at reconciliation, but gives her a letter that she had previously withheld out of spite. The letter is from John Eyre, Jane's uncle and her father's brother, notifying her of his intent to leave her his fortune upon his death.

About a fortnight after her return to Thornfield, Jane—after months of concealing her emotions—proclaims her love for Mr Rochester, who in turn proposes to her with passion. Following a month of courtship, Jane's forebodings arise when a strange, savage-looking woman sneaks into her room one night and rips her wedding veil in two. As with the previous mysterious events, Mr Rochester attributes the incident to Grace Poole, one of his servants.

During the wedding ceremony in the church, the mysterious Mr. Mason and a lawyer step forth and declare that Mr Rochester cannot marry Jane because he is already married— to Mr. Mason's sister. Mr Rochester bitterly admits this; he explains to Jane that his wife is a violent madwoman whom he keeps—watchfully but not cruelly—in the attic, where Grace Poole looks after her capably. But Grace Poole drinks too much, occasionally giving the woman an opportunity to escape. It is Mr Rochester's insane wife who is responsible for the strange events at Thornfield.

Mr Rochester then asks Jane to accompany him to the south of France, where they could live as husband and wife even though they cannot be married. But Jane refuses to go against the God-given principles she has always believed in. Although she loves Mr Rochester dearly, and despite his intense entreaties, she leaves Thornfield in the middle of the night.

Chapters 27-35: Jane's time with the Rivers family

• 
  Jane leaves Thornfield and sleeps outside.
• 
  Jane begs for food.
• 
  St. John Rivers admits Jane to Moor House.

The night after her aborted wedding to Mr. Rochester, she slips out of Thornfield and takes a coach far away to the north of England. By accident, she leaves her package with her little money in it in the coach. For two days she sleeps outdoors on the moor and reluctantly begs for food; she receives scant food and is turned away from doors as a beggar, a thief, or worse. At the very end of her strength, she is befriended by St. John Rivers, a young clergyman, who admits her to the house of his sisters, Diana and Mary. There she is cared for and regains her health. She conceals her identity as much as she can, and St. John arranges for her to teach at a charity school in a nearby village and live in a cottage there. Jane becomes warm friends with Mary and Diana; St. John by nature is quite reserved, and Jane finds it difficult to relate to him, despite his efforts on her behalf. Jane also observes that the brother and sisters have some sort of trouble relating to money, although she discreetly does not ask what that trouble is.

• 
  Rosamond Oliver shows an interest in St. John.
• 
  St. John tells Jane she has inherited £20,000.
• Jane considering St. John's proposal.
  Jane considering St. John's proposal.

When the two sisters have left for their governess jobs in London and St. John becomes more comfortable around Jane, she finds that he, too, has had conflicts of the heart; he has chosen his future path, however, and will not be deterred from it. It is clear to her that one of his "deterrents" is the beautiful and wealthy Rosamond Oliver, who evidently has feelings for the young minister. Later, when Jane tries to confront him about his feelings for Miss Oliver, St.John confesses that he had been in love but has turned away from it. He feels called to be a missionary and knows that Miss Oliver would not accept such a life.

St. John discovers Jane's true identity, and astounds her by narrating to her her own experiences at Thornfield. Then he shows her a letter advising her that her uncle, John Eyre, has died and - as promised - has left her his fortune of 20,000 pounds. When Jane questions further, he reveals that her uncle is also his. They had hoped for a share of the inheritance, but have resigned themselves to their uncle's bequest. Jane, more overjoyed by the fact of having a family than by being an heiress, insists on sharing the money equally with her three newfound cousins.

St. John, despite his new wealth, still intends to travel to India to devote his life to missionary work. He asks Jane to accompany him as his wife. Jane consents to go to India but refuses to marry him; she knows that his reserve and reason and her warmth and passion would not be able to support one another. She respects him highly, but cannot marry him. He uses his powers of persuasion, however, and she eventually capitulates.

At that moment she hears what she thinks is Mr Rochester's voice calling her name. The next morning, she travels to Thornfield to find out about Mr. Rochester's well-being - her last wish before she departs forever for India with St. John.

Chapters 36-38: Jane's reunion with Mr. Rochester

• 
  Thornfield burned to the ground by Bertha.
• 
  Jane and Mr Rochester reunited.
• 
  Mr Rochester's sight improving.

The next day, Jane takes a coach to Thornfield. But only blackened ruins lie where the manor house once stood, matching an earlier premonition she had of the estate in a dream. An innkeeper tells Jane that Mr Rochester's mad wife set the house afire and then committed suicide by jumping from the roof. Mr Rochester rescued the servants from the burning mansion but lost a hand and his eyesight in the process of attempting to save his wife. He now lives in an isolated manor house called Ferndean. Going to Ferndean, Jane reunites with Mr Rochester. At first he fears that she will refuse to marry a blind cripple, but Jane tells him over and over that she will never leave him. When Mr Rochester again proposes, Jane accepts him without hesitation. Mr. Rochester admits to Jane that his suffering has brought him to recognize his need of God.

Mr Rochester eventually recovers sight in one eye, and is able to see their first-born son.

Characters

• Jane Eyre: The protagonist and title character. Orphaned as a baby, she struggles through her nearly loveless childhood and becomes governess at Thornfield Hall. Although she falls in love with her wealthy employer, Edward Rochester, her strong sense of conscience does not permit her to become his mistress, and she does not return to him until his insane wife is dead and she herself has come into an inheritance.
• Mr. Reed: Jane's maternal uncle, who adopts Jane when her parents die. Before his own death, he makes his wife promise to care for Jane.
• Mrs. Sarah Reed: Jane's aunt by marriage, who adopts Jane but neglects and abuses her. Her dislike of Jane continues to her death.
• John Reed: Jane's cousin, who bullies Jane constantly, sometimes in his mother's presence. He ruins himself as an adult and is believed to die by suicide.
• Eliza Reed: Jane's cousin. Bitter because she is not as attractive as her sister, she devotes herself self-righteously to religion.
• Georgiana Reed: Jane's cousin. Though spiteful and insolent, she is also beautiful and indulged. Her sister Eliza foils her marriage to a wealthy Lord.
• Bessie Lee: The plain-spoken nursemaid at Gateshead. She sometimes treats Jane kindly, telling her stories and singing her songs. Later she marries Robert Leaven.
• Robert Leaven: The coachman at Gateshead, who brings Jane the news of John Reed's death, which brought on Mrs. Reed's stroke.
• Mr. Lloyd: A compassionate apothecary who recommends that Jane be sent to school. Later, he writes a letter to Miss Temple confirming Jane's account of her childhood and thereby clearing Jane of Mrs. Reed's charge of lying.
• Mr. Brocklehurst: The clergyman headmaster and treasurer of Lowood School, whose mistreatment of the students is eventually exposed.
• Miss Maria Temple: The kind, superintendent of Lowood School, who treats Jane and Helen (and others) with respect and compassion. She helps clear Jane of Mr. Brocklehurst's false accusation of deceit.
• Miss Scatcherd: A sour and vicious teacher at Lowood.
• Helen Burns: An fellow-student and best friend of Jane's at Lowood School. She refuses to hate those who abuse her, trusting in God and turning the other cheek. She dies in Jane's arms.
• Edward Rochester: The master of Thornfield Manor. A Byronic hero, he makes an unfortunate first marriage before he meets Jane.
• Bertha Mason: The violently insane first wife of Edward Rochester.
• Adèle Varens: A French child to whom Jane is governess at Thornfield. She is Mr Rochester's ward.
• Mrs. Alice Fairfax: An elderly widow and housekeeper of Thornfield Manor. She treats Jane kindly and respectfully, but disapproves of her engagement to Mr Rochester.
• Blanche Ingram: A socialite whom Mr. Rochester appears to court in order to make Jane jealous.
• Richard Mason: An Englishman from the West Indies, whose sister is Mr. Rochester's first wife.
• St. John Eyre Rivers: A clergyman who befriends Jane and turns out to be her cousin. is Jane Eyre's cousin on her father's side. He is a devout, Christian of Calvinistic leanings. By nature he is very reserved and single-minded.
• Diana and Mary Rivers: St. John's sisters and (as it turns out) Jane's cousins.
• Grace Poole: Bertha Mason's keeper.
• Rosamond Oliver: A wealthy young woman who patronizes the village school where Jane teaches, and who is attracted to the Rev. St. John.
• John Eyre: Jane's paternal uncle, who leaves her his vast fortune. He never appears as a character.

Themes

Morality

Jane refuses to become Mr Rochester's paramour because of her "impassioned self-respect and moral conviction." She rejects St. John Rivers' Puritanism as much as Mr Rochester's libertinism. Instead, she works out a morality expressed in love, independence, and forgiveness. Specifically, she forgives her cruel aunt and loves Mr Rochester, but never surrenders her independence to him. He is blind, and thus more dependent on her than she on him.

Religion

Throughout the novel, Jane endeavours to attain an equilibrium between moral duty and earthly happiness. She despises the hypocritical puritanism of Mr. Brocklehurst, and rejects St. John Rivers' cold devotion to his Christian duty, but neither can she bring herself to emulate Helen Burns' turning the other cheek, although she admires Helen for it. Ultimately, she rejects these three extremes and finds a middle ground in which religion serves to curb her immoderate passions but does not repress her true self.

Social class

Jane's ambiguous social position—a penniless yet moderately educated orphan from a good family—leads her to criticise discrimination based on class. Although she is educated, well-mannered, and relatively sophisticated, she is still a governess, a paid servant of low social standing, and therefore powerless. Nevertheless, Brontë possesses certain class prejudices herself, as is made clear when Jane has to remind herself that her unsophisticated village pupils at Morton "are of flesh and blood as good as the scions of gentlest genealogy."

Gender relations

A particularly important theme in the novel is patriarchalism and Jane's efforts to assert her own identity within male-dominated society. Three of the main male characters, Brocklehurst, Mr Rochester and St. John, try to keep Jane in a subordinate position and prevent her from expressing her own thoughts and feelings. Jane escapes Brocklehurst and rejects St. John, and she only marries Mr Rochester once she is sure that their marriage is one between equals. Through Jane, Brontë refutes Victorian stereotypes about women, articulating her own feminist philosophy:

Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more privileged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex. (Chapter XII)

Disability

Recent scholarship has also begun to explore themes in the novel relating to disability, looking at the madness of Bertha Mason Rochester, the blinding and maiming of Mr Rochester, and the unusual affect of the heroine, Jane, perhaps suggestive of an autism spectrum disorder.

Context

The early sequences, in which Jane is sent to Lowood, a harsh boarding school, are derived from the author's own experiences. Helen Burns's death from tuberculosis (referred to as consumption) recalls the deaths of Charlotte Brontë's sisters Elizabeth and Maria, who died of the disease in childhood as a result of the conditions at their school, the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge, near Tunstall, Lancashire. Mr. Brocklehurst is based on Rev. William Carus Wilson (1791–1859), the Evangelical minister who ran the school, and Helen Burns is likely modelled on Charlotte's sister Maria. Additionally, John Reed's decline into alcoholism and dissolution recalls the life of Charlotte's brother Branwell, who became an opium and alcohol addict in the years preceding his death. Finally, like Jane, Charlotte becomes a governess. These facts were revealed to the public in The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) by Charlotte's friend and fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell.

The Gothic manor of Thornfield was probably inspired by North Lees Hall, near Hathersage in the Peak District. This was visited by Charlotte Brontë and her friend Ellen Nussey in the summer of 1845 and is described by the latter in a letter dated 22 July 1845. It was the residence of the Eyre family, and its first owner, Agnes Ashurst, was reputedly confined as a lunatic in a padded second floor room.

Literary motifs and allusions

Jane Eyre uses many motifs from Gothic fiction, such as the Gothic manor (Thornfield), the Byronic hero (Mr Rochester and Jane herself) and The Madwoman in the Attic (Bertha), whom Jane perceives as resembling "the foul German spectre—the Vampyre" (Chapter XXV) and who attacks her own brother in a distinctly vampiric way: "She sucked the blood: she said she'd drain my heart" (Chapter XX). Also, besides gothicism, Jane Eyre displays romanticism to create a unique Victorian novel.

Literary allusions from the Bible, fairy tales, The Pilgrim's Progress, Paradise Lost, and the novels and poetry of Sir Walter Scott are also much in evidence. The novel deliberately avoids some conventions of Victorian fiction, not contriving a deathbed reconciliation between Aunt Reed and Jane Eyre and avoiding the portrayal of a "fallen woman".

Adaptations

Mr. Reed torments young Jane Eyre in Suffolk Youth Theatre's 2008 production of Jane Eyre.

Jane Eyre has engendered numerous adaptations and related works inspired by the novel:

Silent film versions

• Three adaptations entitled Jane Eyre were released; one in 1910, two in 1914.
• 1915: Jane Eyre starring Louise Vale.
• 1915: A version was released called The Castle of Thornfield.
• 1918: A version was released called Woman and Wife.
• 1921: Jane Eyre starring Mabel Ballin.
• 1926: A version was made in Germany called Orphan of Lowood.

Motion picture versions

• 1934: Jane Eyre, starring Colin Clive and Virginia Bruce.
• 1940: Rebecca, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based upon the novel of the same name which was influenced by Jane Eyre. Joan Fontaine, who starred in this film, would also be cast in the 1944 version of Jane Eyre to reinforce the connection.
• 1943: I Walked with a Zombie is a horror movie loosely based upon Jane Eyre.
• 1944: Jane Eyre, with a screenplay by John Houseman and Aldous Huxley. It features Orson Welles as Mr Rochester, Joan Fontaine as Jane, Margaret O'Brien as Adele and Elizabeth Taylor as Helen Burns.
• 1956: A version was made in Hong Kong called The Orphan Girl.
• 1963: A version was released in Mexico called El Secreto (Template:Lang-en).
• 1970: Jane Eyre, starring George C. Scott as Mr Rochester and Susannah York as Jane.
• 1972: An adaptation in Telugu, Shanti Nilayam, directed by C. Vaikuntarama Sastry, starring Anjali Devi.
• 1973: BBC miniseries starring Sorcha Cusack as Jane Eyre and Michael Jayston as Mr Rochester.
• 1978: A version was released in Mexico called Ardiente Secreto (Template:Lang-en).
• 1983: BBC series starring Timothy Dalton as Mr Rochester and Zelah Clarke as Jane.
• 1996: Jane Eyre, directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring William Hurt as Mr Rochester, Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane, Elle Macpherson as Blanche Ingram, Joan Plowright as Mrs. Fairfax, Anna Paquin as the young Jane, Fiona Shaw as Mrs. Reed and Geraldine Chaplin as Miss Scatcherd.
• 1997: Directed by Robert Young, starring Ciaran Hinds as Mr Rochester and Samantha Morton as Jane Eyre.
• 2006: A TV adaptation originally aired on the BBC on January 21, 2007 starring Ruth Wilson as Jane and Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester. Shown in 4 parts.
• 2009: A new film starring Ellen Page in the title role. It will be produced by the BBC.

Musical versions

• A two-act ballet of Jane Eyre was created for the first time by the London Children's Ballet in 1994, with an original score by composer Julia Gomelskaya and choreography by Polyanna Buckingham. The run was a sell-out success.
• A musical version with a book by John Caird and music and lyrics by Paul Gordon, with Marla Schaffel as Jane and James Stacy Barbour as Mr Rochester, opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 10 December 2000. It closed on 10 June 2001.
• Jane Eyre, opera in three acts, Op. 134 was composed by John Joubert in 1987–1997 to a libretto by Kenneth Birkin after the novel.
• An opera based on the novel was written in 2000 by English composer Michael Berkeley, with a libretto by David Malouf. It was given its premiere by Music Theatre Wales at the Cheltenham Festival.
• Jane Eyre was played for the first time in Europe in Beveren, Belgium. It was given its premiere at the cultural centre.
• The ballet "Jane," based on the book was created in 2007, a Bullard/Tye production with music by Max Reger. Its world premiere was scheduled at the Civic Auditorium, Kalamazoo, Michigan, June 29 and 30, performed by the Kalamazoo Ballet Company, Therese Bullard, Director.
• A musical production directed by Debby Race, book by Jana Smith and Wayne R. Scott, with a musical score by Jana Smith and Brad Roseborough, premiered in 2008 at the Lifehouse Theatre in Redlands, California

Television versions

• 1952: This was a live television production presented by "Westinghouse Studio One (Summer Theatre)".
• Adaptations appeared on British and American television in 1956 and 1961.
• 1963:Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Richard Leech as Mr Rochester and Ann Bell as Jane.
• 1973: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Sorcha Cusack as Jane, Michael Jayston as Mr Rochester, Juliet Waley as the child Jane, and Tina Heath as Helen Burns.
• 1978: Telenovela El Ardiente Secreto (English The impassioned secret) was an adaptation of this novel.
• 1982: BBC Classics Presents: Jane Eyrehead. A parody movie by SCTV starred Andrea Martin as Jane Eyrehead, Joe Flaherty as Mr Rochester, also starting John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Martin Short in supporting roles.
• 1983: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Zelah Clarke as Jane, Timothy Dalton as Mr Rochester, Sian Pattenden as the child Jane, and Colette Barker as Helen Burns.
• 1997: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the A&E Network and starred Ciaran Hinds as Mr Rochester and Samantha Morton as Jane.
• 2006: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester, Ruth Wilson as Jane, and Georgie Henley as Young Jane.

Literature

• 1938: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier was partially inspired by Jane Eyre.
• 1961: The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart adapts many of the motifs of Jane Eyre to 1950s northern England. The main character, Annabel, falls in love with her older neighbor who is married to a mentally ill woman. Like Jane, Annabel runs away to try to get over her love. The novel begins when she returns from her eight-year exile.
• 1966: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. The character, Bertha Mason, serves as the main protagonist for this novel which acts as a "prequel" to Jane Eyre. It describes the meeting and marriage of Antoinette (later renamed Bertha by Mr Rochester) and Mr Rochester. In its reshaping of events related to Jane Eyre, the novel suggests that Bertha's madness is the result of Mr Rochester's rejection of her and her Creole heritage. It was also adapted into film twice.
• 1997: Mrs Rochester: A Sequel to Jane Eyre by Hilary Bailey
• 2000: Adele: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story by Emma Tennant
• 2000: Jane Rochester by Kimberly A. Bennett, content explores the first years of the Rochester's marriage with gothic and explicit content. A fan favorite.
• 2001 novel The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde revolves around the plot of Jane Eyre. It portrays the book as originally largely free of literary contrivance: Jane and Mr Rochester's first meeting is a simple conversation without the dramatic horse accident, and Jane does not hear his voice calling for her and ends up starting a new life in India. The title heroine's efforts mostly accidentally change it to the real version.
• 2002: Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn, a science fiction novel based upon Jane Eyre
• 2006: The French Dancer's Bastard: The Story of Adele From Jane Eyre by Emma Tennant. This is a slightly modified version of Tennant's 2000 novel.
• 2007: Thornfield Hall: Jane Eyre's Hidden Story by Emma Tennant. This is another version of Jane Eyre.
• The novelist Angela Carter was working on a sequel to Jane Eyre at the time of her death in 1992. This was to have been the story of Jane's stepdaughter Adèle Varens and her mother Céline. Sadly, only a synopsis survives.

External links

• Read Jane Eyre in Tomeraider format for free.
• Jane Eyre at The Victorian Web
• Jane Eyre at the Brontë Parsonage Museum Website
• Jane Eyre Italian site
• The Brontë Society website
• Dutch website on the Brontës

The novel online

• Full text of Jane Eyre at Project Gutenberg
• A page by page reproduction of the Penguin Classics version of Jane Eyre
• A page by page reproduction of the Oxford World Classics version of Jane Eyre
• Jane Eyre free ebook to read, search and study at texts.crossref-it.info
• Complete Audiobook MP3 - Public Domain
• Jane Eyre free downloads in PDF, PDB and LIT formats